Volume 1 Chapter 58 Mean Villainess, Knowing the Truth from About a Thousand Years Ago
A wooden house that can hardly be called beautiful stands.
It's not exactly dilapidated, but it seems quite old, perhaps a relic of a bygone era.
There appear to be gaps here and there, and the glass used in the door... no, the entrance, has cracks, raising doubts about whether this is a habitable building.
However, cheerful and lively voices can be heard from within that building.
Excuse me, but people actually live here.
Just as I think that, the door opens with a clatter that isn't very pleasant.
'I'm off!'
'Take care!'
Ah, what a nostalgic sound it is.
It's not just the voices I hear.
The rattling of the door and the clinking of teacups colliding.
From somewhere far away, I can also hear the squeaking of bicycle brakes.
I've heard all these sounds somewhere before.
...That said, the scenery before my eyes is unfamiliar.
And the 'schoolgirl' who just dashed out of the house, wearing a somewhat shabby sailor uniform, is also unfamiliar.
Looking around, I see many not-so-tall wooden houses.
The words flying around are all in Japanese, so I understand that I am in Japan.
However, it doesn't seem to be a place I know.
From where I used to live, I could see several high-rise buildings, and there were no such aged wooden houses at all.
I've only seen such wooden houses in dramas.
They look like they belong to the pre-war, wartime, or post-war era.
When I think about it, there are no high-rise buildings, nor asphalt, nor cars in sight.
"That's you, isn't it?"
"Oh my, you surprised me! Waaaah, the fifth queen!"
I was shocked both by being suddenly addressed and by the fact that the voice belonged to the fifth queen.
My heart felt like it jumped with vigor.
"I apologize for startling you."
"N-no, um, it's fine, really?"
"You don't need to be so formal. The title of queen is merely a relic of the past."
Even if you say that...
"However,"
"On the contrary, to you, I am the mother of your hated enemy, the root of all evil."
What does she mean?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Rather than explaining verbally, let me show you."
The fifth queen held my hand.
In that moment, an unfamiliar magic circle spread out beneath our feet.
I thought, what is this, but I had no time to voice my thoughts, and in the next instant, the wooden house transformed into a stone building enveloped in light.
This is probably the world where I, Elena, was born and raised.
"The ceremony will begin soon."
"Ceremony?"
"Yes. This is the past. Right at the time I 'was struck by a stray bullet' and died. The ceremony will take place in this temple."
This person explains their death so lightly, I thought, as I looked at the temple, which was the same one we visited on a school trip.
Although we visited the ruins of the temple, it must have been when that temple was still active.
"What is this ceremony about...?"
"First, let me explain step by step. Right now, you are in your dream."
I had somewhat sensed that when I was gazing at the wooden house.
"And what you are seeing now is a world from about a thousand years ago. What you saw earlier was from a few decades before your 'memories of your past life.' A thousand years in this world is just a few decades in that world. The flow of time is different between this world and that world, so there is a gap... but let's skip that explanation for now. You don't need to think deeply about it."
Skipped.
"Memories of my past life..."
"You remember your past life, right? From there, you are the you from even further back."
It seems that the schoolgirl I didn't remember was actually me from long ago.
So that's why it felt somewhat nostalgic.
"What will happen now is the mistake we made."
The fifth queen said this and quietly closed her eyes.
Then, she began to explain.
A great war was occurring in this world a thousand years ago.
That was the war where the queen was struck by a stray bullet.
That war was that stray bullets hit the queen.
The king was so saddened that the queen had scattered, and he tried to end the war with any help he could.
And that part about 'no matter what means,' relates back to a version of myself from a long time ago.
The quickest way to end the war seems to be proving that the king has immense magical power and can use incredible magic.
It's not just about beating up the important people from the enemy nation.
At that time, the most incredible magic in this world was the ability to summon beings from another world.
Since it was such incredible magic, naturally, it couldn't be used by an individual.
But the desperate actions the king took were to contract with the earth god in exchange for his own life.
"Wait, so, you have to prove that the king can use amazing magic, and that's in exchange for his life?"
"Yes. That man, the king, died shortly after I did. Thus, this country was governed for several years by the specter of the fifth king."
Magic is indeed convenient.
By the way, there was a 3-year blank in the timeline of the 6th king, but maybe that involved these circumstances.
And the cause of death for the fifth king, which both Rudger and I were pursuing, was a form of suicide, even if it was for using magic.
To contract with the earth god, the fifth king provided his sternum, where the purest magical power in the human body gathers.
However, the sternum alone wasn't enough for the magical power, so the 6th king, who was still a prince at that time, completed the contract by paying a price.
"So, the one who was summoned was indeed my past self."
In the great hall of the temple, the student from my past life was summoned right in the center.
The student seemed to not understand what had happened, standing frozen in place with her eyes wide in confusion.
I feel sorry for her, I guess.
Well, I have no memories.
The story that the fifth king summoned a being from another world spread like wildfire across the globe.
Thus, just as the fifth king had planned, the end of the war was reached, but it wasn't truly a happy ending.
The student from another world was showcased to various dignitaries to prevent her from being doubted as a fake.
Not only was she suddenly taken to an unfamiliar world, but she was paraded around like some kind of spectacle.
Just when the presentation had finally ended, another ceremony was about to take place.
It was the ceremony for the 6th king to pay the price.
"This place, I recognize it. It's beneath that temple..."
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